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By Taraka Anil Sabbineni

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DISCLAIMER: I know a huge campaign that’s floating around with all the news and stories about people moving back to India due to bad economy overseas or job cuts or pay cuts or what ever. I DO NOT AGREE with that. My facts do not agree with that. That is just one over-hyped bull shit I have ever heard in my life. India is not as shiny as it seems to be. My suggestion? Please DO NOT move back to India. You will repent your decision for the rest of your life. All Indians currently residing in North America or Europe, stay! http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/internanal-student-life-is-difficult-usa/

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I entered USA as a student and later after going through different stages and levels of visas, I came so close to getting a green card (as an immediate relative of a US citizen). I lived in USA for nearly 7 years and had a nice quality life before I decided to return back. But, I am not one of those who are easily falling for this India growth story. What these company executives shown in presentations and the reality once you reach India is 180 degrees apart. India should get its act together and provide an ethical, corruption free environment for businesses to thrive. At the same time improve their college education to produce engineering graduates who have passion and creative mind for technology not just another body from some goofed university. Almost 2 years in a product design role I am optimistic that companies would be forced to bring technology jobs back to US or native locations if they wish to survive and grow in long-term. In some companies it is starting to happen as it is very difficult to hire quality technical people in India. The people who return back to India after having lived in USA for few years, at-least 90% of those return or try to return back to USA as the quality of life in America is a century ahead of India.

After having stayed in the US for nearly 7 years, I recently decided to shift base back to India. FOR EVER.

So … Why am I moving ?

I frankly have no clear idea. Because, The minute I graduated, my parents started galling me (and ate my brains out, while I am alive) to come back to India. Yeah, parents in India exercise a kind of weird control over their kids emotions. I never understood why the heck they want me do that because they usually never want me do anything that I do not want to do, … long story short … but finally now, I gave up. Now that I ‘ve made the decision and now I am like “ What the heck, let’s do it “. (do not attempt to do it at home) .

Are they missing me ? Oh ! Come on, its been 7 years and they can always come and live with me, here.

Is there a huge family business/obligations that needs someone to look after ?? Nope, my dad is an employee, with assets that can easily be liquidated. (Also, I am against family run businesses)

I just did not understand. But, as I said I just gave up ! But, I am particularly thinking (worried) about all those stupid people who thinks ‘any Indian who came back for good must be the one who cannot find/keep a job overseas.’

Where are you going ?

Bengaluru. They say it is the silicon valley of India, which again is bullshit. Yes it is silicon valley of India only if the real Silicon Valley in California is all about a bunch of cheap-labour outsourcing, software companies. The Silicon Valley is about people and their ideas, innovation, the environment that nourishes the ideas. It is not just a name. If you remove all of that from the silicon valley and throw in a bunch of egoistic bitchy bossy bosses and the worst maniacs of all venture capitalists, and most unprofessional cheap-ass software engineers who smell ‘desi’ in their attitude, what you get is the shittiest silicon valley knock off on earth.

A place where I can not shop in the middle of the night (Think 24 x 7 Meijer), where nosy people live, where even Subway sells stale products (Eat Fresh !), where objectivity is nowhere to be found, yucks ! (yeah, yeah, you are gonna say, “Aren’t you born in India ? Don’t just be an ass**** !” . What Ever dude !)

Do What ?

First of all, I am going to stink. And then bitch about being home. (Yeahh, I am an ass-****). And then whine about missing a better ‘life’. Some how this whole news was leaked before I announce it officially (Its official with this blog post) and a while ago I got a call from one of the investors at a Bangalore based start-up, whom I knew personally. He formally introduced me to the founders and other investors. Actually I really am surprised by the level of enthusiasm and goals they have. Then, it occurred to me, moving back is not so depressing after all. So, I would be joining them focusing on their Mobile Enterprise Solutions Platform. I also will be learning professional photography from Arvind Bhatt/AK Nathan. And Of Course, as always, I will be travelling around the world restarting with ********* (Hint: Sunburnt Country)”, this summer.

So, When ?

I gave my 15 day notice but my employer told me that I probably am going to stay for 15 more days later on. Then I am going to do a vacation and then that will be it ! So It is going to be about 45 days from today ! Yes, there is going to be a garage sale ! A really huge one ! Contact me !

So, Finally …

Now, you might be thinking, Anil is the biggest stereo-typed dick I ‘ve ever seen. Why is he fucking whining so much ? Yep ! Probably. Though I didn’t live my whole life in Detroit and here in San Francisco, I spent most of my best years there. People always said that School years and Single years would be some of the most fun years of life, and my school years here truly did not disappoint. (Of Course, the other half of them are in India and I loved them as much). I loved those early mornings when I’d go to Starbucks and pick up a grande vanilla latte, and sometimes that delicious 20-grams-of-fat brownie, and head over to school or all those parties in Detroit. (Yep, Detroit is where I spent most of my fun years)

So, I am gonna miss all the amazing people I met here and all that I can learn while am here. I think, in India, one can enjoy is just quasi-freedom, the one every one else approved that others to have ! Sucks ! I just do not know any one back there any more !

The attitudes like ‘chalta hai’ and ‘bossism’ in India is one commonality and I have to realize this, so that I truly can come to peace with living in India. One of my mom’s friends once told me “to survive in India you need two things: patience and a good sense of humor.” So, when I think of India as a vibrant place and that India too has so much to offer because it’s modernizing in many ways, it is not that depressing after-all !

Now, if any one of you still make that decision and decide to move back, I am adding some tips along with a precautionary one line advise “ THINK AGAIN “. Now that you have re-thought again and made your decision, Read on. Some tips might help you. Good Luck on your future endeavours.

One important thing that you must understand very well: How much you get paid ? When it comes to compensation, people moving back have inflated expectations. Do not go by hearsay; a friend or friend’s friend who returned to India has told you a tall story about Indian salaries. Do not go by that yard stick. USD will not convert to INR. The first thing to remember is that you will not make the rupee equivalent of your US salary in India. The cost of living in India is significantly lower than that in the US. This also means a lower labour cost in India. And pay in India does not usually reflect cost of living. You make less than you should (Big Mac Index).Now according to the last available index dated July 2011, a Big Mac costing USD 4.07 in the US costs USD 1.89 in dollar terms in India (Rs 85 converted at an exchange rate of Rs 45). It means that the Big Mac costs 54% less in India; the cost of living is 54% lower in India. Read another way, this means that the rupee is undervalued by 54% to the dollar and that on the basis of PPP, one dollar would actually be worth Rs 21 instead of Rs 45. So if you are drawing a salary of USD 100,000 in the US, you can expect to draw Rs 21 lakh in India, give or take. At an exchange rate of Rs 45, that would translate to an Indian salary of USD 46,666 or 46% of the US salary.

Jot down YOUR pro’s and con’s. I am listing a few that crossed my mind here.

Pros of moving to India:

Can be great career move and an opportunity to try new things at a lower cost – India is just a different ball game and even I am hyper excited about start-ups and the market here.

Travel more in and around India – amazing places are 2-3hr flight away – Sri Lanka to Dubai to Macau and rest of Asia.

Cons of moving to India from US: I will make this short

India is expensive if you want to live like an American. On the other hand money can get most things done for you easily.

Lousy Vacations. Creepy, nosy People.

Lack of parks, good hiking trails and things for kids to do on weekends.

Attention to detail and reliability is missing in work and people here.

Pollution (not so bad in Bangalore), noise, traffic and general dirtiness.

Bureaucracy – knowing people who know people. US is more straightforward in how we deal with people and things.

Being nice is not the way to go and is generally underrated – you need to toughen up or else people will take advantage of you, you will not get things done.

Easy availability of everything is missing – HDMI cable to cookie dough to latest iPhone. You can get a lot in India these days but still it is nothing like walking into Frys or Costco or Trader Joes in the US. Same goes for internet reliability and bandwidth – so if you are someone who thrives on being on the cutting edge of tech. it can be issue at times.

July, 2012

I arrived at the end of June in flurry of auto-rickshaws, an epic train journey and an all night Kattaikkuttu performance, just as the month of storytelling was about to begin at Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam. It began with the arrival of professional storyteller Craig Jenkins on the 5th of July on his forth pilgrimage to the school. The excitement and exhilaration of everyone at the school (not just the children) told me this was indeed a special visitor and this month would indeed be one to write about.

Craig Jenkins – professional storyteller

I had to admit to Craig that I never realised Storytelling was a profession and not only that but an intricate and important art form, which like dance, acting, writing or painting must come from the heart and with a passion for the meanings and truths behind what is being told or addressed.

There is a vast oral and written tradition of storytelling here in India and many Middle Eastern countries, a lot of which will now have been translated for the western world and so, will be familiar to many. For example, I’m sure most people will know of the Middle Eastern epic – One Thousand and One Nights (or Arabian Nights) famously popularised and americanised by Disney. Perhaps their knowledge of the roots of Aladin or Ali Baba The Forty Thieves is a little vague however. What Craig brings to Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam is by all means not a westernised version of the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, neither is it simply the beautiful oral tradition passed down to him through his much loved Guru Vayu Naidu; it is an exciting, enticing and educational experience through which he applies his successful mantra of taking old, traditional stories and bringing them into the contemporary. This allows students of all ages to deconstruct the stories they have heard their whole lives, look at them from a different angle, redesign their meanings and use them to examine contemporary issues such as gender and prejudice. This is complimented by learning new stories through which students can learn for themselves how to create, construct and perform these stories.

As I write this I realise how much I have already learnt about this art and I am excited to learn more. Our storytelling workshop ‘Mun Oru Kalattil,’ taking place at the end of this month will provide me with the perfect opportunity. It will be a truly educational and eye opening experience for everyone involved, whatever their profession or reason for attending.

However, learning about this art has made me wonder why we have lost the presence of this tradition in our own culture. Undoubtedly it is still there but I think its importance and meaning within society has been lost, especially in an educational sense. Perhaps I am wrong however and it is simply my own ignorance to the art which has denied me to see it in its full light and capacity back in my corner of the world. And with that thought, the will in me to learn more about storytelling and the stories which have been kept alive in India through this oral and written tradition, has grown all the stronger!

In recent times many Indian artists have turned to sculpting images on sand. Sand sculpturist Sudarsan Pattnaik, 35, hails from Puri, nearly 60 km from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of the State of Orissa, India. At the recently concluded Solo International Sand Art Contest in Marbella, Spain held from July 9-17, 2012 he won two Gold medals for his sculpture of Ganesh, the Hindu god of wisdom and good health.

The theme of the competition was “Secrets of the Sea.” Pattnaik`s 3.5-metre sand sculpture (see above photo) bearing the message – “SAVE THE SEA LIFE” – won medals in “People’s Choice” and “Best Positive” categories.

He learned this form of art by himself without any guidance – by persevering practice. He started sculpting images on sand since the age of seven. Till now he has designed hundreds of sand sculpture.

Sudarsan Patnaik’s sculpture of Santa Claus, created on the sandy beaches with the help of students of his Golden Sand Art School, would be on display for a couple of days. / Photo: Biswaranjan Rout -AP

He has won many national and international awards for his creative designs. His name is recorded in the World records for sculpting the tallest Santa Claus. Using 1,000 tones of sand, Sudarsan Pattnaik and his team carved a moving image of Santa Claus at Orissa’s Puri beach, measuring 100 feet, 30 feet wide and 15 feet high-which sets the record for the Tallest sand sculpture of Santa Claus.

Sudarsan Pattnaik has also won the accolade for most Santa Claus images sculpted on sand. He won the People’s Choice Prize at the first Moscow International Sand Sculpture Championship.

Sudarsan Pattnaik beat stiff competition from nine participants to win an international sand sculpture championship in Denmark in end May this year, making India proud at the first such event in Copenhagen. His 2.5 metres high sand sculpture of a mermaid pleading for human effort to save the oceans was declared the winner of the championship.

May the almighty grant you patience to listen to what I am about to say.

Please understand that elderly people are a bit too sensitive.

I am sorry dear. Your dad and I are getting old. Age is creeping on us and our hands shake. So, I beg you not to yell at us if we drop the plate, spill coffee, tea or soup on the sofa, table or floor.

Since your father’s hearing is getting worse day by day, he can’t hear what you are saying. So, please don’t hurt his feelings by calling him “Deaf! ….”; instead please repeat patiently what you said or write it down.

In time to come we might wet our clothes, the bed or the sofa. Don’t scold us then.

When our knees get weaker, I pray you have the patience to help us get up from the chair or bed. I don’t think you can remember us helping you while you were learning to walk as a toddler.

We know you are busy with your work and your family. So, if you do have some spare time, can you talk to us just for a few minutes – in person or over the phone?

At times when your father or I keep repeating ourselves like a scratched gramophone record please bear with us. Please don’t make fun of us, or say that you are “getting sick of listening to” us. When you were little, we enjoyed hearing you repeat words and we encouraged you to do so and as we encourage your son to do so now.

Even if you’re not interested in our “repeating the same old stories,” please pretend that you enjoy listening to our rambling like we used to listen to your babbling when you were young?

Your father and I know that we are not going to last much longer; and we pray to God to grant you patience to take care of us during the last few moments of our life.

At the time of our death, will you please hold our hand to give us strength to face death peacefully?

When we are dead don’t spend money and your precious time by burying us in a cemetery; instead donate our mortal bodies to a medical college where the students may profit by dissecting them.

After we die, when we finally meet our creator, we will whisper in His ear to bless you and your family because you loved your mother and father till their death.

Thank you so much for your care.

You’ll understand what I am saying now when you yourself get older.Never, ever forget that your father and I loved you and your family and will always love you all, forever and ever, from the “Bosom of Abraham“.

Earlier this month, Damson Dene Hotel, in England’s Lake District, replaced in all 40 guest rooms, the ubiquitous bedside cabinet Gideon Bible with something a bit more modern, the soft-porn bestseller: “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James, a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London.

The irony is that the Damson Dene Hotel, was purchased from a Methodist group 10 years ago. Its current owner, Jonathan Denby, apparently thought it inappropriate to distribute Bibles in today’s secular society and has explained his decision in a blog post:

“Tonight millions of women will be curling up in bed with a good book and you can bet your life it won’t be the Bible. More likely than not it will be Fifty Shades of Grey. I haven’t read the book yet – I’m not in the target audience – but I’m told it’s a ripping good yarn and everyone who’s in the target audience loves it. This made me wonder about the sense of providing a book, the Gideon Bible which no one reads, and many dislike, in the bedside cabinet of our hotel bedrooms, instead of a book which everyone wants to read, such as Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Denby said he did not do it for any philosophical reasons, and had considered substitutions for a long time. “I was thinking originally of putting in a book by Ayn Rand – Atlas Shrugged was my first thought,” Denby told NBC News.

Denby also said in his blog: “I’ll keep a couple behind the reception desk so that if any guest whose preferred bedtime reading happens to be the Bible finds that they have forgotten to pack their copy, they’ll be pleased to read in the guest handbook that they can borrow a copy from the receptionist.”

That hasn’t stopped the local vicar from publicly denouncing the change. Rev. Michael Woodcock, Local vicar and parish priest at St. Mary’s Church in Crosthwaite has publicly denounced the change. He told British media that the hotel’s decision is just a gimmick. “It is a shame that the Bible has been taken out,” he told the paper. “But I am sure it will be put back in the future. The more attention that is drawn to this the more bad publicity it gets.”

‘Fifty Shades of Grey‘ is all that people are talking about at the moment, but I know that some are too shy to buy it for themselves,” hotel manager Wayne Bartholomew told the Daily Mail. “I thought it would be a special treat for our guests to find it in their bedside cabinet and that includes the men too.”

“The Bible is a great read. It has stories which feature sex and violence, as well as comedy, tragedy, poetry, and prose. Its themes are eternal; they still speak directly into people’s lives centuries after it was written,” said a member of The Bible Society.

Readers have viewed this post more than 281,520 times.

Woman gives birth to 11 baby boys at once?

Mumbai: An Indian woman gave birth to eleven 11 kids baby boys few days ago. Resources have been told that few of them were test tubesbabies but it really seems strange at once. It was also rumored that 6 were twins. Doctors were really surprised, shocked and glad to have successful delivery. Well it’s a blessing of God, who gives 11 baby boys to one woman. 21st century record of 2012 year, if the report is true.

Isn’t the above news a soup of ludicrous statements? A blog that I am familiar with echoed the above news as follows:

Parsi Woman gives birth to 11 boys #Believeitornot

by XXXXXXXXXXX

ELEVENTH WONDER OF THE WORLD

A PARSI WOMAN GIVES BIRTH To 11 Baby Boys At ONCE at Surat Hospital.

A 25-yr old Parsi Woman gave birth to eleven (11) baby boys on 6 Feb 2012. Doctors were really surprised, shocked and glad to have a successful delivery.

11 baby boys to one woman. 21st century record of 2012 year.

After a while, the website scrapped the post; perhaps they would have realized it was not true.

In fact, the photograph taken on 11/11/11 at the Nadkarni’s 21st Century Hospital & Test Tube Baby Centre in Surat shows the 11 babies born on that day placed side by side.

July 20, 2012 11:00 pm

Nadya Denise Doud-Suleman (born Natalie Denise Suleman) an American woman came to international attention when she gave birth to octuplets in January 2009. This revelation also helps to bring to light how any news can be twisted such as this American woman being imaged as “a Parsi woman.”

By Michael Moore

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July 24, 2012

Since Cain went nuts and whacked Abel, there have always been those humans who, for one reason or another, go temporarily or permanently insane and commit unspeakable acts of violence. There was the Roman Emperor Tiberius, who during the first century A.D. enjoyed throwing victims off a cliff on the Mediterranean island of Capri. Gilles de Rais, a French knight and ally of Joan of Arc during the middle ages, went cuckoo-for-Cocoa Puffs one day and ended up murdering hundreds of children. Just a few decades later Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Dracula, was killing people in Transylvania in numberless horrifying ways.

In modern times, nearly every nation has had a psychopath or two commit a mass murder, regardless of how strict their gun laws are – the crazed white supremacist in Norway one year ago Sunday, the schoolyard butcher in Dunblane, Scotland, the École Polytechnique killer in Montreal, the mass murderer in Erfurt, Germany … the list seems endless.

And now the Aurora shooter last Friday. There have always been insane people, and there always will be.

But here’s the difference between the rest of the world and us: We have TWO Auroras that take place every single day of every single year! At least 24 Americans every day (8-9,000 a year) are killed by people with guns – and that doesn’t count the ones accidentally killed by guns or who commit suicide with a gun. Count them and you can triple that number to over 25,000.

That means the United States is responsible for over 80% of all the gun deaths in the 23 richest countriescombined. Considering that the people of those countries, as human beings, are no better or worse than any of us, well, then, why us?

Both conservatives and liberals in America operate with firmly held beliefs as to “the why” of this problem. And the reason neither can find their way out of the box toward a real solution is because, in fact, they’re both half right.

The right believes that the Founding Fathers, through some sort of divine decree, have guaranteed them the absolute right to own as many guns as they desire. And they will ceaselessly remind you that a gun cannot fire itself – that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”

Of course, they know they’re being intellectually dishonest (if I can use that word) when they say that about the Second Amendment because they know the men who wrote the constitution just wanted to make sure a militia could be quickly called up from amongst the farmers and merchants should the Brits decide to return and wreak some havoc.

But they are half right when they say “Guns don’t kill people.” I would just alter that slogan slightly to speak the real truth: “Guns don’t kill people, Americans kill people.”

Because we’re the only ones in the first world who do this en masse. And you’ll hear all stripes of Americans come up with a host of reasons so that they don’t have to deal with what’s really behind all this murder and mayhem.

They’ll say it’s the violent movies and video games that are responsible. Last time I checked, the movies and video games in Japan are more violent than ours – and yet usually fewer than 20 people a year are killed there with guns – and in 2006 the number was two!

Others will say it’s the number of broken homes that lead to all this killing. I hate to break this to you, but there are almost as many single-parent homes in the U.K. as there are here – and yet, in Great Britain, there are usually fewer than 40 gun murders a year.

People like me will say this is all the result of the U.S. having a history and a culture of men with guns, “cowboys and Indians,” “shoot first and ask questions later.” And while it is true that the mass genocide of the Native Americans set a pretty ugly model to found a country on, I think it’s safe to say we’re not the only ones with a violent past or a penchant for genocide. Hello, Germany! That’s right I’m talking about you and your history, from the Huns to the Nazis, just loving a good slaughter (as did the Japanese, and the British who ruled the world for hundreds of years – and they didn’t achieve that through planting daisies). And yet in Germany, a nation of 80 million people, there are only around 200 gun murders a year.

So those countries (and many others) are just like us – except for the fact that more people here believe in God and go to church than any other Western nation.

My liberal compatriots will tell you if we just had less guns, there would be less gun deaths. And, mathematically, that would be true. If you have less arsenic in the water supply, it will kill less people. Less of anything bad – calories, smoking, reality TV – will kill far fewer people. And if we had strong gun laws that prohibited automatic and semi-automatic weapons and banned the sale of large magazines that can hold a gazillion bullets, well, then shooters like the man in Aurora would not be able to shoot so many people in just a few minutes.

But this, too, has a problem. There are plenty of guns in Canada (mostly hunting rifles) – and yet the annual gun murder count in Canada is around 200 deaths. In fact, because of its proximity, Canada’s culture is very similar to ours – the kids play the same violent video games, watch the same movies and TV shows, and yet they don’t grow up wanting to kill each other. Switzerland has the third-highest number of guns per capita on earth, but still a low murder rate.

So – why us?

I posed this question a decade ago in my film ‘Bowling for Columbine,’ and this week, I have had little to say because I feel I said what I had to say ten years ago – and it doesn’t seem to have done a whole lot of good other than to now look like it was actually a crystal ball posing as a movie.

This is what I said then, and it is what I will say again today:

1. We Americans are incredibly good killers. We believe in killing as a way of accomplishing our goals. Three-quarters of our states execute criminals, even though the states with the lower murder rates are generally the states with no death penalty.

Our killing is not just historical (the slaughter of Indians and slaves and each other in a “civil” war). It is our current way of resolving whatever it is we’re afraid of. It’s invasion as foreign policy. Sure there’s Iraq and Afghanistan – but we’ve been invaders since we “conquered the wild west” and now we’re hooked so bad we don’t even know where to invade (bin Laden wasn’t hiding in Afghanistan, he was in Pakistan) or what to invade for (Saddam had zero weapons of mass destruction and nothing to do with 9/11). We send our lower classes off to do the killing, and the rest of us who don’t have a loved one over there don’t spend a single minute of any given day thinking about the carnage. And now we send in remote pilotless planes to kill, planes that are being controlled by faceless men in a lush, air conditioned studio in suburban Las Vegas. It is madness.

2. We are an easily frightened people and it is easy to manipulate us with fear. What are we so afraid of that we need to have 300 million guns in our homes? Who do we think is going to hurt us? Why are most of these guns in white suburban and rural homes? Maybe we should fix our race problem and our poverty problem (again, #1 in the industrialized world) and then maybe there would be fewer frustrated, frightened, angry people reaching for the gun in the drawer. Maybe we would take better care of each other (here’s a good example of what I mean).

Those are my thoughts about Aurora and the violent country I am a citizen of. Like I said, I spelled it all out hereif you’d like to watch it or share it for free with others. All we’re lacking here, my friends, is the courage and the resolve. I’m in if you are.

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